


Heart of the (Birthday) Cards

by dearfriendicanfly



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Birthday Presents, Developing Friendships, Enemies to Friends, Gen, Podfic & Podficced Works, anyway i think yugi and kaiba's friendship would be. very funny, as always idk what to tag anything, but also ;-;
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:15:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27273286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearfriendicanfly/pseuds/dearfriendicanfly
Summary: "Mokuba doesn't want a party this year. I still have to give him something.”“But isn’t spending time with your brother already the perfect gift?”“Ew.”Kaiba is having trouble choosing a gift for Mokuba's birthday, but Yugi has an idea.
Relationships: Kaiba Mokuba & Kaiba Seto, Kaiba Seto & Mutou Yuugi
Comments: 40
Kudos: 39





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Podfic available here!](https://mega.nz/file/PFoTCK7Q#STBPt_dYuFk-pefr-75khJf3aXYEaNS9rHWR5lc_SPk)

Yugi tried to ignore him, he really did. He tried to go about his business — get in, go buy a few packs from the new _Duel Monsters_ box, get out — but Kaiba was just _so_ conspicuous. The white baseball cap pulled low over his face, the big blue coat with the upturned collar that flapped dramatically every time he turned around, the comically large sunglasses, the constant glances over his shoulder, it was all too much. 

Yugi really did _try_ to pretend not to see him as Kaiba browsed the game shop. It was clear that he didn’t want to be recognized. But it _was_ Kaiba, wasn’t it? Even without being able to see much of his face, Yugi would have known that lanky, coat-clad silhouette anywhere. And he just seemed so… distressed. Every item he looked at seemed to personally offend him, and he would huff and puff and sigh and grumble to himself. It was honestly really distracting. Who could blame Yugi for finally letting his curiosity get the better of him? 

He wove gingerly through the tight aisles, careful not to knock over any precariously perched figures or game books, and sidled up quietly to Kaiba. He was glaring at a jigsaw puzzle of a dragon as if it had personally insulted his family. When it became clear he wasn’t going to notice Yugi anytime soon, Yugi coughed politely.

“...Kaiba?”

Kaiba jumped, and the puzzle box slipped through his fingers. Yugi reached out and caught it in a rare feat of instinct and opened his mouth to apologize profusely for startling him, but Kaiba just let out a groan and pulled his hat more closely over his eyes. “Ugh… It’s _you…_ How did you recognize me?”

“Um… just a hunch.” Yugi peered up at him curiously as he put the puzzle box gently back on the shelf, standing on tip-toe to reach it. “What are you doing here, though?”

“None of your business.”

Kaiba seemed quite content to leave it at that. He turned his back with a dramatic _whoosh_ of his coat and pulled down a _Monster World_ guidebook, resuming his glaring.

Yugi glanced back at the crowd around the counter by the trading card display. “...You’re not here for the new _Duel Monsters_ box?” 

Kaiba let out possibly the most condescending noise that Yugi had ever heard in his entire fifteen years of life. “I had every card in that box before it was even released.”

“Well, la-dee-da,” Yugi mumbled. “What _are_ you looking for, then?”

“I _just_ said it’s none of your business. Go away.”

Kaiba shoved the guidebook back into its place on the shelf with far more force than was necessary and looked around the shop, frowning. He seemed to be at a loss, somehow, unsure of where to turn next.

“I could help you find whatever you’re looking for,” Yugi offered.

“How many times do I have to tell you to get lost?”

“I work at a game store! Not this one, but I still know how to find things. Cmon, Kaiba, just tell me what it is.” 

Kaiba’s brows lowered in a squint. “ _Now_ you’re just being nosy.”

“Maybe a little bit.”

Even without being able to see Kaiba’s eyes, Yugi could tell that he was rolling them. Kaiba turned his back again and stomped off to the display of miniatures across the store. Yugi followed, though he was stubbornly ignored.

Though Kaiba looking unhappy was definitely nothing new, something seemed different about him today. As he scanned the shelves of miniatures and build-kits and bright colored paints, he was fidgeting, his arms folded tightly and fingers tapping like pistons on his sleeve. Kaiba seemed to grow more and more antsy and frustrated the longer he stood there, clearly searching for _something,_ but judging by his aimless wandering around the aisles, even he wasn’t sure what for. He was just… shopping around. For what?

Suddenly, Yugi’s eyes widened, and he let out a gasp that made Kaiba nearly jump again. 

“What _now?!_ ”

“Isn’t Mokuba’s birthday coming up?”

Though Kaiba didn’t respond, the sour twist of his mouth said it all.

“Aww, Kaiba, are you trying to pick out a birthday present?”

“ _Shut up!_ ” Kaiba hissed, pulling his collar more tightly around his face. “Stop saying my name!”

“R-Right, sorry… But I’m right, aren’t I?”

“Fine! Yes! You’re right! Now would you leave me _alone?_ ”

“Oh my gosh, I was just thinking the other day that I should get Mokuba something, but I didn’t know what he’d like. But since _you’re_ here we can look around together!”

“We absolutely cannot.”

“Aw, don’t be like that, Kaiba… Can’t we help each other out as friends?”

“We are not friends.”

“Sure,” Yugi said with a wink. “Definitely not. We’re just classmates who happened to save the world together multiple times.”

“Yes. Unironically, yes.”

“Ooh, does Mokuba still like _Capsule Chess_? I heard there were some new terrain pieces coming out—”

Yugi dragged Kaiba around the store by his coat sleeve, and though Kaiba practically steamed at him, they both knew that he couldn’t cause a scene without being recognized. So Yugi chattered away about _Capsule Chess_ and _Duel Monsters_ and Mokuba, and Kaiba seethed silently (though he seemed to soften a bit whenever Yugi spoke fondly of his little brother). 

Yugi cried out happily and grabbed a box from the back of its shelf — the last of the new terrain sets he was searching for. “Just in time! What do you think, would he like it?”

Kaiba gave a half-hearted grunt. “There’s not much here he _wouldn’t_ like,” he admitted. Still, having said it, nothing seemed to catch his eye. He kept glancing around the store uncertainly, kept tapping his fingers against his arm and looking sour. 

“...Come to think of it, why are you shopping around here, anyway?” Yugi tucked the box under his arm and crossed the aisle to glance over the card packs hanging on the wall. “I woulda thought you’d be able to get your hands on all kinds of secret prototype stuff that isn’t even in stores yet.”

“Naturally,” Kaiba sniffed. But he still didn’t answer Yugi’s question. He just glared at the floor, tap tap tapping his fingers, his face all twisted up with… well, who really knew when it came to Kaiba? Yugi had all but given up on trying to get a straight answer out of him when he just barely heard Kaiba say something under his breath.

“…Mokuba doesn’t want a party,” Kaiba mumbled.

Yugi blinked. “Huh?”

Kaiba let out a huff, taking off the stupid sunglasses and shoving them into his pocket. His scowl was exactly the one that Yugi was expecting. “I throw him a big party every year with all the attractions he could want. Carnival rides, arcades, celebrity guests, _anything_ he wants. But this year he said he didn’t want one. He just wants us to hang out.”

“Aww, Kaiba, that’s really sweet…”

Kaiba gave a noncommittal _harumph_. “Well, I still have to give him something.”

“But isn’t spending time with your brother already the perfect gift?”

“Ew.”

Yugi snorted at that, earning himself an even more withering glare from Kaiba, but he just waved it off with a smile. “Well, still, I don’t get why you came here.”

Kaiba threw up his arms in exasperation or disbelief or maybe both. “Do I owe you an explanation for everything I do? Who died and made you the game police?”

“Nobody,” Yugi laughed, “I just thought I could be more helpful if I knew what you were trying to do.”

“If you really wanna help, get lost so I can think in peace.”

Yugi held up his hands in surrender, and his knowing smile only made Kaiba look even more annoyed. “Okay, point taken. I’ll go check out and wait for you outside.” He hurried off to the register before Kaiba could protest and bought the terrain set and a handful of card packs. On his way out, to his surprise, he saw Kaiba still looking around instead of taking the opportunity to ditch Yugi and run. 

_He’s seriously agonizing over this,_ Yugi thought, somewhere between sympathetic and amused.

Outside the shop, he decided to pass the time by opening up his card packs. To his dismay, out of the three, the first two were mostly duplicates of the same low level cards. He took a deep breath before opening the third, closing his eyes tight. The plastic cover opened with a little _pop_ and Yugi looked in his hand and groaned.

“Bad luck, huh?”

Yugi jumped and the shopping bag nearly went crashing to the ground, but Kaiba reached out smoothly and snatched it out of the air. Even behind his glasses, Yugi could still tell that he was looking smug as he handed the bag back, as if to say, _How the tables turn._

Yugi made a face as he took the bag and tucked his cards safely inside. “You know, if you gloat after you do something cool, it stops being cool.”

“Thanks, but I’m not about to take advice on how to be cool from the nerd-in-chief.”

Yugi grimaced. He often wondered whether Kaiba realized that if people were ever embarrassed by his name-calling, it was mostly on his behalf. He had half a mind to tell him so, but then he noticed that Kaiba had come out empty handed.

“You didn’t pick anything…?”

“Nothing here is good enough,” Kaiba sniffed. 

Yugi could hear a kernel of truth in that. Just the smallest hint of genuine frustration. Maybe even guilt.

“Mm… I get what you mean,” he said thoughtfully. “It’s hard to find a gift that really says what’s on your heart.”

“Ugh, why does everything sound so gross when _you_ say it?”

Yugi’s face lit up, completely ignoring Kaiba’s comment. “Wait, I have an idea! Let’s go back to my house!”

Kaiba stared, almost in disbelief. “You want _me?_ To go to your house?”

“Er… yeah, that’s what I just said.”

“Uh, I’ll pass.”

“Aw, cmon, Kaiba! It’s not like my dorkiness or whatever is contagious.”

“That’s not what I…”

But Yugi dragged him by the coat sleeve once again toward the train station down the street, and Kaiba followed, looking a little pale.

“Yugi, you can’t be serious.”

“Of course I’m serious. I wouldn’t lie about something like that, Kaiba. That would be mean.”

“You— That’s not—” Kaiba looked at him as if he’d sprouted antlers as they hurried down the stairs to the station below. “Are you seriously that dense?!”

Yugi shot him a glare of his own, though he couldn’t muster up the kind of venom that Kaiba could. “So what if I am? You’re one to talk! Jeez, Kaiba, I know you have your whole _I’m-too-cool-to-have-friends_ thing, but _I_ consider you _my_ friend, and I wouldn’t make a joke like that.”

Kaiba opened his mouth to retort, but no words came out. He closed it again, silently steaming, and then crossed his arms like a petulant child. “I don’t sound like that,” he muttered.

“You definitely do.”

He went red in the face from embarrassment or anger or some combination of the two, and practically hollered, “Fine! I’ll go to your stupid house!” A few passersby turned and stared, and Kaiba hurriedly pulled his hat low over his eyes.

“Great!” Yugi beamed, taking Kaiba by the wrist once again. “Fare’s on me.”

And suddenly, Kaiba regretted his disguise. If it wasn’t for how well it hid his face, Yugi might have seen his expression and understood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I maybe fell into a YGO rabbithole
> 
> I split this into 2 or 3 chapters because I wanna finish the millennium world arc in the anime before I decide the whole fic is ready to publish, since this is supposed to take place after Atem passes on and it's just Kaiba and Yugi, so like... seems important to watch that and actually know how it goes down LMFAO. But writing this sparked joy and I wanted to go ahead and publish the first chapter. Anyway, ty for reading and I hope you will continue to enjoy the rest! <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished the anime and then binged the entire manga for good measure.... O/—< Chapter 3 should be the final one and will follow shortly!

Though Yugi’s house was only three stops from where they left, it felt like the longest train ride Yugi had ever been on. Kaiba stood in stony silence nearly the entire time, arms crossed sullenly, trying his best not to bump shoulders with anyone on the crowded train. Yugi stood beside him, a little grateful for the wide berth that everyone was giving Kaiba and his horrendous vibes.

“Our stop is the next one,” Yugi said, over the polite sounding voice on the speaker.

Kaiba only grunted in response. He was still looking strange— his face was pale behind his dumb glasses and the corners of his mouth went a little funny. Yugi hesitated, but when he finally decided to ask if Kaiba was all right, the train suddenly came to a halt and Yugi lurched forward, losing his footing and nearly careening into another passenger.

Kaiba reached out and grabbed his arm, roughly pulling him back to his feet.

“S-Sorry,” Yugi stammered. He wasn't sure why he was apologizing.

Kaiba only grunted again. “Just watch your step.”

It was a small exchange, but Yugi felt just a little bit lighter for the rest of the train ride home.

The walk from the station to Kame Game passed mostly in silence, too. The autumn evening air was cool and crisp and the setting sun cast Domino City in soft gold. Kaiba kept a slow pace beside Yugi as they walked, despite how much taller he was. It was... oddly comfortable.

Kaiba suddenly broke that comfortable silence. "How long is this gonna take? I have places to be, you know."

Yugi raised an eyebrow. "Like where? Another game store?" He chewed back a smile at Kaiba's scowl.

"Like at _home,_ watching my little brother."

"Huh? But Mokuba's not home. Joey said he was taking him to see a movie today."

"Joey-?!" Kaiba stumbled to a halt, staring open-mouthed at Yugi. "With _Wheeler?_ "

Yugi raised an eyebrow. "He didn't tell you?"

Kaiba's face twisted with sudden realization, and he went red right to the tips of his ears. "They're going to see that new Duel Monsters anime movie, aren't they?"

"Uhh... yeah, I think so. The Blue Eyes White Dragon one. Honestly, I thought you were going with them."

"Absolutely not," Kaiba huffed, crossing his arms and starting on his way again. He stomped down the road with long, angry strides, and Yugi had to hurry to keep up with him. "The new backstory they gave Blue Eyes is _all_ wrong. I wouldn't have even greenlit that stupid movie if I knew they were going to pull that stunt with Blue Eyes and Red Eyes—"

"W-Wait, I haven't seen it!" Yugi panted, practically jogging now to keep pace with Kaiba. "Don't spoil it!"

Kaiba scoffed. "It's not worth seeing." Despite Yugi's protests, he ranted for the rest of the walk back to the shop about how _dumb_ the tragic romance between the masters of Blue Eyes and Red Eyes was, how _ridiculous_ the idea of Blue Eyes Black Dragon being fusion summoned with a kiss was, how they _ruined_ the continuity from previous movies and retconned half of the Blue Eyes master's established backstory. Though long-winded tirades weren't anything new from Kaiba, it was a little different to hear him ranting about an anime as opposed to, say, how friendship is fake and winning is all that's important, etc, etc. It was almost... nice, Yugi thought. Like something _real_ friends might talk about.

Still, he could see why Mokuba went to see the movie with Joey in secret. Yugi hoped that maybe letting Kaiba get it all off his chest now would spare Mokuba later.

"And he went to see it with _Wheeler!_ " Kaiba was stomping hard enough to stir up little clouds of dust every time he slammed a foot into the ground. "Of all the people..."

"Hey," Yugi protested, "Mokuba _likes_ Joey, and Joey likes him, too. You shouldn't talk about him like that. Isn't it a good thing that Mokuba is making friends?"

"That's..." Whatever retort Kaiba was going to make stuck in his throat and died there. He looked away, mouth twisted sourly and eyes dark, and Yugi felt a sudden stab of guilt. He wasn't sure why, but his words had struck some kind of nerve. Thinking about it, he realized that it must be pretty easy to do that when it came to Mokuba. _I didn't mean it that way,_ Yugi wanted to say, but... he wasn't sure what way Kaiba had taken it to begin with.

Kaiba walked more slowly now, back to keeping pace with Yugi, but it didn't feel like before. That comfortable feeling was gone, and the air felt chilly and sharp.

When the _Kame Game_ storefront came into view, Yugi nearly sighed in relief. "We're here!" he said brightly, breaking pace with Kaiba in his excitement. "I live right above the store, so we can just go in through the—"

Yugi paused. When he turned back around, Kaiba wasn't following him. He was standing stiffly a ways behind him, staring at the ground.

"Kaiba...?"

If Kaiba said anything in response, Yugi couldn't hear it. Slowly, hesitantly, he walked back to where Kaiba had seemed to freeze in his tracks. If he had been pale before, he was looking downright ghostly now. His mouth worked as if he were chewing on his words before saying them. He stared stubbornly at the ground and didn't bother taking off his shades, despite the evening growing darker.

"Is, uh..." Kaiba cleared his throat, and shockingly, Yugi thought he sounded downright _awkward._ "Ahem. Is your... grandfather home?"

For a moment, Yugi stared, nonplussed. But it didn't take long for the realization to hit him like a freight train, his mouth falling open in a comically perfect _O_.

"Um... yes," Yugi admitted, trying and failing not to look just as awkward as Kaiba. "He's working the shop."

"You want _me_ to go in _there?_ "

"Uh... Well..."

Kaiba looked like he could snap right then and there. "You didn't even think about this at all, did you?" he hissed.

"No! I mean— well, I..."

Suddenly, everything made sense — Kaiba's incredulity at his invitation, his pallor the entire way there. And Yugi suddenly felt very small and stupid for not even stopping to consider that maybe Kaiba did sometimes have good reasons to draw boundaries between the two of them. 

Kaiba muttered something under his breath that Yugi didn't quite catch. He finally took off the sunglasses and shoved them into his pocket again, with a glare so intense it could have burned a hole in the ground. "Forget it, Yugi. I'm going home."

And that was the most reasonable thing to do, Yugi knew. It must have taken a lot of courage just for Kaiba to come this far. Yugi should have been grateful for that much and left the rest alone. There were some lines that you just didn't cross, some things you could never make up for no matter how hard you tried. Yugi knew that.

But what he felt was another story.

Yugi reached out and grabbed Kaiba's wrist. "Wait."

Yugi wasn't holding onto Kaiba with any real strength or force, but despite the scowl on Kaiba's face, he didn't shake Yugi off.

"It'll be okay, Kaiba. I promise."

Kaiba fixed that scowl on Yugi. "Oh, really? Did you even tell him I was coming?"

"Er... no... but it'll still be okay."

Kaiba let out a huff. But still, he didn't shake Yugi off. He wouldn't look Yugi in the eye, instead scowling at his hand on Kaiba's wrist, but he seemed to be thinking about... well, neither of them probably knew for sure, not even Kaiba.

"...Fine."

Yugi blinked. "Really?"

"Don't make me change my mind," Kaiba snapped, but the words didn't have his usual bite. He still seemed lost in his own thoughts, lips pursed and face pale.

Yugi squeezed his wrist, just a little. "Okay."

Kaiba let Yugi lead him to the door of _Kame Game_ with only the minimum amount of grumbling under his breath.

Solomon was hunched over a box of miniature kits, stocking the shelves, when he heard the chime of the door. He glanced up briefly before returning to his work. "Oh, welcome back, Yugi. Your mother is—" He suddenly choked on his words mid-sentence and looked back up, eyes wide.

Yugi could hear Kaiba swallow, and when he looked up at his friend, he realized that the look in his eyes was not defiance. He was bracing himself.

Yugi held Kaiba's wrist a little tighter as Solomon stood to his feet, looking bewildered and indignant. "Grandpa, I—"

"You... _You...!_ "

Solomon stomped toward the two of them with fire in his eyes. Kaiba froze, steeling himself for whatever it was Solomon was about to do, and Yugi stepped in front of him. "Wait, I can explain—"

" _You went to Black Crown Games?!_ "

Yugi blinked. Kaiba nearly choked.

With a start, Yugi looked back at the shopping bag in his hand. He'd completely forgotten to hide it.

Solomon looked like he might cry. " _Yugi!_ They're our biggest competitor, why would you go shopping there?! Are you trying to put me out of business?!"

"N-No!!" Yugi stammered. "I just wanted the new—"

"All you have to do is tell me and I can special order whatever you want!! Don't go buy it from a competitor!!"

"But... then I'd have to wait..."

Solomon buried his face in his hands. "You're killing me. You're killing your grandfather."

Kaiba stared like a deer caught in headlights, completely and utterly bewildered. Some color was coming back to his face, though perhaps more from embarrassment than relief. Yugi coughed awkwardly, trying to stop Solomon's tirade about brand loyalty before he got too far into it.

"Um... L-Listen, Grandpa, can Kaiba hang out here for a little while?"

"Do as you please," Solomon said morosely, sniffling to himself as he went back to his work. "I'll just slave away here, all alone, trying to put food in your ungrateful mouth."

"Thanks, Grandpa!" Yugi said cheerfully, tugging a greatly alarmed Kaiba behind him into the house.

"Don't worry," Yugi reassured him, shuffling off his shoes. "He said that the last time I bought a booster pack at Target, too."

Kaiba opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He looked thoroughly confused. He glanced back into the shop behind him, but Solomon wasn't storming up the stairs to belatedly rip into him. The old man hadn't exactly welcomed him, but he hadn't been kicked out, either.

"That was... okay," Kaiba said, dazed. It wasn't addressed to anyone in particular. Hell, he probably hadn't even meant to say it out loud.

But Yugi just smiled and finally let go of Kaiba's wrist. "See? Just like I promised."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My fav thing about the YGO universe is it's like one step removed from pokemon where the anime/manga is just straight up about the tcg itself, like it exists as a franchise, which means the comedic possibilities are endless if you want to imagine a pokemon-esque anime INSIDE the canon ygoverse that's all about the monsters and the various reasons why Kaiba hates it and yet is compelled to watch it.


	3. Chapter 3

Kaiba seemed oddly stiff and jumpy as Yugi led him through the house. He finally had the good sense to take off the hat along with the shades, but he just clutched it awkwardly in his hands, either unwilling or too embarrassed to ask where to leave it. He kept glancing back over his shoulder, apparently still taken aback at Yugi's grandfather's non-reaction to the guy who nearly killed him over a trading card _waltzing right into his home_ as if he belonged there.

"We can work in the kitchen," Yugi said brightly, and Kaiba finally seemed to come back to earth, his usual scowl returning.

"Work on _what,_ exactly?"

"Heh, you'll see."

Yugi opened the door to the kitchen and ushered a reluctant Kaiba inside. The room was small and just the right kind of untidy, with a table in the corner and four chairs. Yugi pulled one out for Kaiba, who immediately pulled out a different chair and sat down. Yugi genuinely wasn't sure if he was being belligerent or if he simply didn't understand the gesture.

"Uh, wait right there," Yugi said, and scurried into the hall before Kaiba could protest. Kaiba sat gingerly, as if his chair were made of thumbtacks. He crossed his arms and glanced around the room, his mouth a thin line. He really hoped Yugi didn't expect him to bake something. The thought was enough to make him shudder.

"Aha!" Kaiba could hear Yugi's muffled cry of satisfaction from down the hall. When he came back into the kitchen, he was carrying a box that was nearly as big as he was — not that _that_ was saying much. Yugi was hardly any bigger than Mokuba.

Yugi set the box on the table with a heavy thud. When he opened it, it was full of colored paper, paint pens, and other craft items. “Ta-da!”

Kaiba stared. “...I’m missing something.”

“We can make cards for Mokuba! Then you can just say what you want to say in words!”

Kaiba grimaced, gingerly picking up an ancient pom-pom from the table. It promptly shed nearly half of its shiny plastic hairs. “Seriously?”

“Yes,” Yugi said firmly, pulling out a stack of blue construction paper. “Seriously.” He handed Kaiba a sheet and set another one in front of himself, and Kaiba’s nose crinkled.

“You _seriously_ want me to give Mokuba some paper with crayon doodles all over it?”

“Hey, we have colored pencils, too. And watercolors!”

“Ooh la-la, _excuse_ me.”

“Aw, cmon,” Yugi huffed, looking up from the box. “I bet Mokuba used to draw pictures and make crafts and stuff when he was little. Don’t you still have any of the things he made for you?”

To Yugi’s surprise, Kaiba looked genuinely taken aback. His eternal scowl flickered briefly, and as if without thinking, his hand drifted to where Yugi knew his pendant must have been tucked into his shirt.

“That’s… different.”

Kaiba almost looked flustered, and Yugi felt a sudden fondness tug at the corners of his mouth. “I don’t think it is,” he said earnestly. “It’s special because it’s from Mokuba, right? I bet he’d feel the same about anything you made!”

“I make things all the time. They’re just a little more technologically sophisticated than construction paper and Krazy glue.”

“It’s the _thought_ that counts, Kaiba. Not the hardware.”

Yugi reached into the box and started fishing around for a battered set of colored pencils that had served him well since grade school. Kaiba watched as Yugi sat back in his chair and tapped his chin with the tail end of a red pencil. After a minute or two, his eyes lit up and he hunched eagerly over his paper, scribbling away.

Kaiba looked back down at his own paper, which just looked blankly right back at him.

_Stupid,_ he thought, suddenly wondering why on earth he even let Yugi get him to this point. _This is so dumb. I should just leave._ He shifted in his chair as if to stand, when—

"Oh, welcome home Yugi! And who's this?"

An older woman with closely cropped brown hair stood in the doorway of the kitchen, an apron in hand and a smile on her face.

Yugi stood to his feet, pencil still in hand. "Oh—! Mom, uh..." He glanced back at Kaiba, and Kaiba wasn't sure if it was hesitation on his face or just a plea for Kaiba not to say something horrible. Maybe both. "Mom, this is my... my friend, Kaiba. Kaiba, this is my mom."

"Aw, pleased to meet you, Kaiba." She held out a hand, which Kaiba took gingerly. She gave it a squeeze and patted it with her other hand. "Any friend of Yugi's is welcome here anytime."

"Pleased to meet you," Kaiba mumbled back, preferring not to address the second comment.

"Uh, Mom, did you need anything from the kitchen?" Yugi asked hurriedly. He could sense Kaiba's discomfort swelling like a balloon about to pop. 

"Oh, I was going to fix up something to eat, but if you two need the kitchen then we can just order in for tonight. Kaiba, are you staying for dinner?"

"We'll see," Yugi said quickly. Kaiba was starting to get that deer-in-the-headlights look again. "Can we talk about it a little later?"

His mom raised an eyebrow, but she took a glance at Kaiba's pale, puckered face and relented. "All right. Well, I'll just order pizza for four, then, and if Kaiba wants any, he's free to have some."

"Thanks, Mom," Yugi sighed, relieved. "That sounds great."

As she was leaving, she paused, and leaned in close to Yugi's ear. "Hey, is that the same Kaiba that Joey said he was gonna—"

"Different Kaiba!" Yugi blurted out, hurrying his mother out the door. " _ThanksMomBye!_ "

When the two of them were alone again, Yugi could have cut the awkward silence with a knife. Kaiba was sitting ramrod straight, his face all puckered and twisted in on itself as if he'd swallowed an entire lemon whole. Apparently, doting mothers were something he was even less equipped to deal with than angry grandfathers.

"Um," Yugi said, "yeah."

Kaiba just nodded jerkily and stared at the piece of paper on the table in front of him.

"S-So, I'm thinking about drawing Mokuba dressed up like the Skull monster," Yugi said hurriedly. He sat back in his chair and picked up his pencil, tucking it behind his ear at a jaunty angle. "Do you think he'd like that? I don't know what his favorite Capsule Monster is, but... um..."

Kaiba shrugged, but it seemed less like a response to Yugi's question and more like an attempt to shrug off that awkward feeling. "He doesn't have a favorite. He likes them all."

"Oh... Good to know."

The silence was still awkward, but it was gradually becoming a little less heavy. Yugi decided to give Kaiba a little space and focused on his own work, sketching out a picture of Mokuba wearing the garb of the Skull — a long, tattered cape and a ram's skull on his head. On a table in front of him was a birthday cake with 14 candles, and the top of the card read _Bone Appetit!_ Pretty corny, but it was the best he could come up with on such short notice.

After a while, he glanced up to see what Kaiba was doing, but instead caught Kaiba staring at _his_ work. The moment Yugi's head lifted, Kaiba's gaze swiveled to the side. He scowled at Yugi's stand mixer with great interest.

"...Um, hey Kaiba, do you think this looks okay?" Yugi asked, holding up the card for Kaiba to see properly. He figured Kaiba would respond better to a request for criticism than if he'd simply asked if Kaiba wanted to see.

Yugi was right, and Kaiba took the drawing in his hand and leveled it with a haughty gaze. To Yugi's surprise, _Kaiba_ looked surprised. It might have been Yugi's imagination, but he thought maybe, just maybe, Kaiba's face softened a little at the sight of his little brother grinning back at him.

"...It's not terrible."

Yugi beamed as he took back the drawing. That was high praise, coming from Kaiba. "Thanks!"

Kaiba just grunted. He was starting to look a little less sour. But when Yugi glanced at Kaiba's paper, it was still blank.

He was about to ask if he wanted some scrap paper or maybe a different drawing tool, but then Kaiba cleared his throat.

"I, uh... I didn't know you... liked to draw."

Kaiba was staring _very_ pointedly at anything but Yugi, and he seemed to be trying very hard to burn a hole in the curtains with just his glare. 

Yugi's jaw nearly dropped. Was _Kaiba_ trying to make _small talk?_

"...Yeah," Yugi said slowly, cautiously, like a wild animal handler. "I mean, just sometimes. Bakura's the one who's really good at it. He makes miniatures and dioramas and stuff like that, but he likes drawing scenes from his tabletop games, too. It's really cool!"

Kaiba nodded. "Mm." He didn't seem to have much else to say.

"...I used to draw a lot as a kid, though," Yugi continued. He smiled a bit as he colored in Mokuba's deep red cape. "I liked making up my own card games and puzzles and stuff, so I'd do stuff like cut up a drawing into puzzle pieces and ask my mom to solve it, haha. Did you ever do stuff like that?"

"No, uh..." Kaiba stared at the blank sheet of paper in front of him, eyes hard and cloudy. "No."

Yugi could practically hear the chill wind blowing through the kitchen. _Yikes. Way to go,_ he thought, and he could have died of embarrassment. _Good job bringing up the most sensitive topic possible._

He was about to frantically change the subject when, to his surprise, Kaiba did it for him. "I didn't know you lived with your mom, either."

Yugi blinked. "O-Oh... Yeah, most people don't, I think. Joey was surprised the first time he came over, too. But yeah, my mom and I moved in here not that long ago to help Grandpa with the store and the house. My dad's still around, too, he just works abroad, like Hanasaki's dad."

Kaiba just nodded again. "Mm."

Yugi wasn't sure why Kaiba was asking him questions about his family, and he was doubly unsure of what kinds of questions to ask back. Kaiba's family history was a lot more... loaded than Yugi's was. There didn't seem to be much about Kaiba that _wasn't_ loaded, actually. Still, for whatever reason, Kaiba seemed to really be trying to... well, Yugi didn't know what he was trying to do, exactly. But he _was_ trying, and Yugi could appreciate that.

"So... what kind of things do you and Mokuba usually do to celebrate?" he asked, figuring that was a safe enough topic. "You said you like to throw him big parties."

Kaiba drew himself up a little straighter, some of that unmistakable pride coming back to him. "Feh. Calling them _parties_ doesn't even do it justice."

Yugi tried to quash the immediate embarrassment at Kaiba's smug air and listen politely.

"Every year since... well, every year, I throw Mokuba a celebration, and when it's over he tells me what he wants for the next year to give me time to prepare. When he turned twelve, I bought him a Chuck E. Cheese for his personal playhouse. And last year, I got them to film an episode of the _Duel Monsters_ live action series on location at our house with Mokuba as a guest star."

Yugi's eyes widened. "Mokuba was in that? I never noticed!"

"Well, he was dressed as a Kuriboh."

Yugi laughed at that, an awkward, snorting kind of laugh. "Ha, he's definitely got the hair for it."

And then Kaiba — _Seto Kaiba_ — actually laughed. Well, it was more like a good-humored exhale, but coming from _Kaiba?_ Yugi had practically brought the house down.

Still, Kaiba looked a little troubled. That blank sheet of paper kept catching his eye, and the corners of his mouth would twitch oddly. And Yugi couldn't fully _get_ it, but he thought maybe he sort of understood why Mokuba's request this year was the most daunting one yet.

"...Why don't you draw a picture of a party?" Yugi suggested. "Like, what you _would_ have done this year if Mokuba asked for something different. You could even give him a party on the moon, haha."

"I've got that planned for his 21st," Kaiba said absently, frowning at the card. Before Yugi could ask him to _please_ elaborate on that, he let out a sigh. "Besides, it's not... what he wants."

Yugi scanned Kaiba's face — the thin mouth, the furrowed brow, the hard eyes that lost their edge whenever the subject turned to Mokuba. Or maybe it wasn't that the edge was lost, but just that it turned inward.

"...What do _you_ want?" Yugi asked gently.

And Kaiba didn't seem prepared for that question. After all, they were talking about _Mokuba's_ birthday, not his. He frowned in confusion and looked like he was going to say something, but just like on the walk to the store, the words died in his throat. He looked down again at that blank, empty space where he was supposed to write words of love, and his jaw tightened.

“I just... want him to give him what he deserves,” Kaiba mumbled. He leaned back in his chair and shoved his hands deep into his pockets. “After all those shitty birthdays in Gozaburo’s house, he deserves more than just some lame kiddie party. I tell him every year he can have whatever he wants, and this year he says he doesn’t want anything! How am I supposed to give him a present when he doesn’t tell me what he wants?”

“But he _did_ tell you,” Yugi pointed out. “He wants to spend some quality time with his brother.”

“Why?” 

The word sort of tumbled clumsily out of Kaiba before he could stop it. As soon as he said it, his face went sour and his cheeks reddened. “I mean… he sees me every day. What’s so great about that?”

Yugi smiled, but it was just a little bit sad at the corners. “Well... maybe you should trust Mokuba a little more to know what he really wants. You might understand once you’re actually together.”

And though Yugi would never say so, because it wasn't right or fair, there was a part of him that felt jealous as he decorated the birthday cake in his drawing. Jealous of Kaiba, of Joey, of Tristan, of all his friends who grew up with siblings. He'd been so lonely when he was younger, cooped up alone in his house, spending _years_ putting the Millennium Puzzle together and praying that it would someday grant his wish of having someone to rely on. Someone who relied on him. And he'd gotten his wish, and it meant _everything_ to him, but... sometimes, he still felt like there was something missing.

“...Why do… Why do _you_ want me here?”

Yugi looked up with a start. Kaiba's voice was quieter than he'd ever heard it before. For the first time practically since they'd arrived, Kaiba was forcing himself to meet Yugi's eye. He looked confused, even downright uncomfortable. But he didn't look away.

Yugi felt a pain that didn't seem entirely his own. "Kaiba..."

He thought about Death-T and all the awful things the Kaiba brothers had done to Yugi and his loved ones. He thought about Mokuba, shivering and crying and utterly bewildered at Yugi's kindness. He thought about Kaiba, lying in a hospital bed for six months. Kaiba, standing on that ledge. Kaiba, whose little brother cried for him even without a soul. Kaiba, who had been willing to die for Mokuba.

Yugi thought about Battle City, and that deep pain and frustration in his other self's heart as he faced Kaiba. _What are you?_ he had thought, and Yugi had felt that sadness as if it were his own. _My friend? My rival? Why does this line exist between us?_

He thought about those troubled dreams he and his other self had, in those last few nights they spent together. Fragments of Atem's memories, momentary glimpses of the people who he had lost not just once in death, but twice in memory. He thought of the priest that looked so much like Kaiba, and he could still feel the ghost of Atem's pain, his grief over losing something he'd never even realized he had. Not until it was too late. 

And yet, there was another kind of pain that _was_ entirely Yugi's. Something far simpler, and so all the more difficult to put into words. Something that felt like a heavy weight in the pit of his stomach whenever he thought about what Mokuba told him back at Death-T about the time before they had been called _Kaiba._

"I just..."

And Kaiba was clearly dreading Yugi's answer, but Yugi wanted to say it, anyway. He looked down at his drawing, at the two figures he had started to sketch standing beside Mokuba.

"Sometimes... I think... If things had been different, maybe we could have been... family."

Yugi had no idea what to make of the look on Kaiba's face. He was sure Kaiba had no idea what to make of the look on his. They simply stared at one another for a long time, completely at a loss.

Kaiba swallowed. "...That's—"

"Pizza's here!"

Yugi nearly jumped right out of his skin. His mother dropped a pizza box on the kitchen counter and a couple of paper plates on the table. She peered at Yugi's drawing as she passed by, smiling brightly. "Ooh, making birthday cards? I hope I'm not interrupting."

"N-No, it's okay," Yugi said quickly, grabbing the two plates and hurrying over to the counter. "I'll grab you a slice, Kaiba, no need to get up." He prayed that neither Kaiba nor his mother noticed Yugi's face burning as he stacked their plates.

"Who are the cards for?" his mother asked curiously. Kaiba really looked like he might jump out the window to escape any more attention, so Yugi hurriedly answered for him. "They're for Mokuba. You remember him, he came to our Halloween movie night."

"Oh, yeah! He's a sweetheart. Tell him I said happy birthday, won't you?"

Kaiba blinked. "Y...Yes. Of course." And then, awkwardly, "Thank you."

Yugi's mother smiled knowingly, and reached out to lightly touch Kaiba's shoulder. It was a small thing, it lasted only a moment, but Kaiba froze. 

"Yugi, would you mind coming downstairs for a second to help your grandfather with lockup?"

"I'll be down in just a minute," Yugi said, setting a plate in front of Kaiba and practically inhaling a slice of his own. "Be right back," he added to Kaiba, around a mouthful of pepperoni pizza. Kaiba grimaced, but just nodded and kept his thoughts on Yugi's table manners to himself for once.

Even when he found himself sitting there alone in the quiet kitchen, Kaiba still felt frozen. He stared at the blank sheet of paper and thought of Solomon letting Kaiba into his home without protest. He thought of Yugi's mother and her gentle hands gripping his. He thought of Yugi's words, and it all felt unreal and made his stomach churn. He looked at the weatherbeaten box of pencils and crayons and dumb looking pompoms, all worn by time and use and love, and he didn't know what to think of it. Was this the sort of thing normal kids did? Drawing silly pictures and eating pizza and making small talk with their... classmates who just so happened to save the world together multiple times?

_Did you ever do stuff like that?_ Yugi had asked him. And Kaiba had said no, but it would be more honest to say that he couldn't remember. If there had ever been good memories mixed in with the rest, they were all buried under the ruins of the person who wasn't called _Kaiba_. 

Kaiba reached into his shirt, pulling out the pendant Mokuba had made for him. When he opened the lid, there was Mokuba's face, young and happy, proof that the boys who weren't called Kaiba really _had_ existed. And it made him recall another thing that Mokuba had once made for him...

When Yugi came back into the kitchen, he found Kaiba hunched over his paper, drawing something with slow, uncertain strokes. He leaned in close, trying to see what it was, but Kaiba blocked his view with an arm. “You thought of something?” Yugi asked, biting back a smile.

“None of your business,” Kaiba muttered, going red around the ears. But when he lifted his arm to reach for a blue pencil, Yugi's eyes lit up. A slow, beaming smile crossed his face, and he sat back down to finish his own drawing. He suspected that Kaiba's card was going to utterly outshine his own, but for once, he didn't mind losing this round to Kaiba.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to make this more evenly split between Yugi and Mokuba but then... tfw Millennium World...... I've just got a lot of feelings. Also I had to split this one into two chapters because it was getting too long slkdjfgdhk so there's actually one last chapter coming with our good lad Mokie. As always, thanks for reading, and a big thanks to everyone who's been leaving sweet comments! <3


	4. Chapter 4

Kaiba was, in fact, not very good at baking. 

"It just takes practice," Mokuba assured him, kindly disposing of the remains of their first attempt at a birthday cake. Kaiba had been absolutely _certain_ that he could make Mokuba's favorite Swiss roll cake, despite never having made it before. After all, how hard could it be to follow a recipe? Well, the answer was apparently _very hard_. Kaiba swore eternal vengeance on his pitiful meringue and vowed to master the art of whisking by the end of the week just to spite it.

Mokuba wiped a bit of cocoa powder from his face with his sleeve, mostly just managing to spread it across his cheek. "Let's just go with the box mix for today."

Kaiba squinted. "What box mix?"

"Um... the one I bought just in case, hehe... Sorry, Seto."

Kaiba clicked his tongue, but he couldn't fault Mokuba for being prepared. 

Together, they made quick work of sifting the cake mix into a bowl, adding the wet ingredients, mixing it into a smooth, chocolatey batter, and pouring it into a simple flat cake pan that Mokuba had apparently picked up along with the box mix. Kaiba supposed that if there was one perk of baking their own cake, it was that Mokuba got to lick the bowl clean.

Once the cake was in the oven, Kaiba started on the buttercream frosting — that much, at least, he could do. Mokuba was not to be trusted anywhere near any uncovered container of frosting, so Kaiba whipped it up himself while Mokuba sat at the table and opened up his presents.

Their kitchen wasn't much like Yugi's. Where the Mutou family kitchen had been small and cozy, lit brightly by an open window and cluttered with various appliances wherever they could find space, the Kaiba brothers' kitchen was sleek and spacious. The counters were clean and tidy, the appliances were professional grade, and Kaiba had plenty of room to work on the marble topped island. Considering how rarely he cooked, though, he thought it just made the place feel a bit too empty. Not that Kaiba knew or cared that much about interior design. But the kitchen did feel a little less imposing now, with its flour-dusted counters and cake ingredients lying about wherever they had left them in the chaos.

"Oh, wow...! Seto, look what Bakura sent me!"

Kaiba left the buttercream to set in the fridge and came to look more closely at the little box Mokuba was holding out. Encased in glass was a diorama of... Oh, boy. Kaiba tried his best not to grimace at the embarrassing memories that came flooding back as he looked at the little figures. The center figure was clearly Mokuba, dressed as Princess Adena and beaming proudly. Behind him in a row stood the geek squad, decked out in the armor of the four legendary heroes. And kneeling in front of Mokuba was... well, Kaiba _assumed_ that was himself. Bakura must have (rightly) decided that it would look a little too boring to model Kaiba in his old coat, and so he had designed a Blue-Eyes inspired armor instead. In the scene, Mokuba appeared to be knighting him, or bestowing some other kind of honor. It was... cute. Kaiba could admit that. And it certainly portrayed him in a more flattering light than it might have if Bakura had actually _been_ on that particular adventure and seen Kaiba locked up in the dungeon, hanging off what was essentially a cross. Kaiba could already picture what _that_ diorama would look like: _The Crucifixion of Kaiba._

The next present was from Joey and Serenity. Kaiba was baffled at first as he watched Mokuba open a box full of what appeared to be DVDs of old horror B-movies, but then Mokuba read the note aloud: "'For future scary movie nights. We grew up watching these together, and hope you and your bro will get a kick out of them, too.'" He looked up at Kaiba with a sparkle in his eye. "Let's watch one after the cake is done! I vote for _Horrors of Spider Island._ "

Kaiba shrugged. "Your birthday, your pick." He begrudgingly thought to himself that maybe even Wheeler could be thoughtful, sometimes.

Tristan, to Kaiba's surprise and Mokuba's delight, had sent a dress just like Adena's, fashioned from some of his sister's hand-me-downs. Téa sent a handmade tiara to go with it, along with a basic jewelry kit, so that Mokuba could play around with making more jewelry like the pendants he'd fashioned for himself and his brother. Mokuba put the tiara on immediately, tangling it so efficiently in his wild hair that Kaiba dreaded having to extricate it at the end of the day.

Lastly was Yugi's gift, wrapped neatly in a Kuriboh patterned wrapping paper that Kaiba thought he had spotted back at _Kame Game_. Mokuba gave a happy cry as he uncovered the new terrain set. "Oh man, I haven't played _Capsule Monster Chess_ since..."

His sentence trailed into awkward silence. They both wordlessly agreed not to think too hard about it and just be glad that Yugi, at least, seemed to have moved past that particular chapter in their lives.

"Huh, what's..." Mokuba found an envelope nestled among the remains of the wrapping paper and slit it open. When he laid eyes on the card, his whole face lit up, and then he snorted. "Heh, 'Bone Appetit...' Check it out, Seto!"

Kaiba intended to feign surprise as he looked over the colored pencil drawing of Mokuba in his Skull costume, but then it _did_ surprise him. Beside Mokuba stood two figures: Yugi and Kaiba, wearing matching skulls and wide smiles.

"It looks just like you," Mokuba cackled.

Kaiba sniffed. "Hardly." Yugi's drawing made Kaiba look downright _friendly_. Ew.

With all his presents opened, Mokuba snatched up Tristan's dress and ran off toward his room. "I'm gonna try it on!"

"Shouldn't you wait until _after_ eating the cake? You don't want to get it dirty."

Mokuba waved off his brother's concern with a shrug. "I'll be careful. It's my birthday and I wanna look cute."

Even Kaiba couldn't chew back a smile at that.

Alone in the kitchen, he tried to find a safer place for Bakura's diorama, and decided on an empty spot on the kitchen counter. Looking at it more closely, Kaiba had to admit that Bakura's skills were impressive. Mokuba, especially, was a dead ringer. Though the figure reminded Kaiba more of Mokuba at eleven than now at fourteen, he realized. Not that Mokuba had changed all that much in these past few years. Not in Kaiba's eyes, anyway. But Mokuba looked a little taller, these days, his face just a little longer.

 _He's growing up,_ Kaiba suddenly thought, and it felt like a knife twisting in his ribs.

The oven suddenly went off, startling Kaiba from his thoughts, and he swore under his breath as he hurriedly fished a pair of oven mitts from a drawer. The cake came out perfectly, risen just above the edges of the pan and with a perfectly browned top. He would have to wait for it to cool to decorate it, and figured that Mokuba would want to help with that part, anyway. Heaven only knew what it was about baking that Mokuba found so fun. Personally, Kaiba would stick to just ordering his own cakes in advance.

He paused and looked at himself, standing in the kitchen with an apron and oven mitts, baking a shitty box cake. There was wrapping paper strewn around the floor, and flour still coated half the countertops. There were so many dishes in the sink, too. He could have the place cleaned in the morning, but somehow, that felt too much like admitting defeat.

 _Is this what it's like to be a grown-up?_ Kaiba wondered, and his chest felt hollow and cold. _Is this what normal families are supposed to do?_

The word _grown-up_ fit Kaiba about as well as an old hand-me-down, too big in all the wrong places. He was eighteen now, which was hardly very grown up at all, but he couldn't say he was a child anymore, either. He wasn't sure that he ever really could. Child _ish,_ certainly, and the thought made him grimace. But he thought of Yugi and his cozy little house, the box of well-loved art supplies, his story of making puzzles for his mother to solve. It had all felt so alien and unreal. 

Mokuba was fourteen, now. He had four more years to just be a kid. And every year, to Kaiba, just felt like another one to add onto the pile of lost time to be made up for. And he had tried, _truly tried_ his hardest these past few years. He would have given Mokuba the world if he'd asked, and thrown in the moon and the stars just because he could. But all that Mokuba had wanted this year was a normal birthday spent with his brother. The realization that they'd never done such a thing before felt like such a fundamental _failure_ that Kaiba went cold and sick.

He stuck a hand in his pocket, and his fingertips brushed the corner of an envelope. It was stupid, really. His little scribbles could never make up for what they had lost. What _Mokuba_ had lost.

"Check it out!"

Kaiba jumped, shoving the envelope back into his pocket. When he turned around, there was Mokuba, dressed up like a princess and grinning from ear to ear. The dress was a little too big for him, and there were still smudges of cocoa powder on his cheeks, and for just a brief moment, Kaiba's heart felt lighter. 

"We'll have to adjust it," he said aloud, frowning at the too-long sleeves.

Mokuba shrugged. "The better to smack you with," he snickered, giving Kaiba's arm a limp slap with the lacy sleeve.

Kaiba rolled his eyes, but he was smiling just a little.

For the sake of Tristan's hard work, Kaiba handed over his apron to Mokuba as they iced the cake. Mokuba dumped nearly an entire container of rainbow sprinkles over it, and Kaiba grimaced at the thought of eating this sugary monstrosity, but at least his brother was having fun. When all was said and done, Kaiba topped the cake with fourteen candles and turned out the lights. He lit each candle one by one, trying not to think about all the years they represented. When he sat the cake down in front of Mokuba on the table, he expected him to blow them out, but instead, he just stared at Kaiba, eyes glinting in the candlelight.

"...Something wrong?"

Mokuba coughed. "No, it's just... this is the part where you... y'know... The song?"

Kaiba's face puckered and Mokuba snorted. "Never mind, you don't have to—"

"No," Kaiba said quickly, "I can do it." Though his face said the exact opposite. He cleared his throat awkwardly, hoping death might be merciful and take him right then and there, but alas. When he sang, it came out jerky and awkward, but he made it through the song. That seemed to be good enough for Mokuba, who giggled to himself and blew out the candles. When Kaiba turned the lights back on, Mokuba was beaming.

"Did you... uh... make a wish?" Kaiba asked.

Mokuba just smiled at him. "It's a secret."

As it turned out, the cake wasn't half bad. Definitely too many sprinkles, but maybe box cakes weren't so bad after all. And the homemade buttercream frosting was damned good, if Kaiba said so himself. Not exactly haute cuisine, but it would do.

Mokuba, on the other hand, ate like it was a feast fit for a king. Or a princess, more like. "This is the best cake I ever had," he said around a mouthful of chocolate and buttercream. Objectively untrue, Kaiba thought, but he figured he could understand what Mokuba really meant. It wasn't just about the cake.

When they were finished, Mokuba dragged Kaiba excitedly into the living room with a movie in hand. They had a setup much like a movie theater for occasions like these, with a full-size screen and projector, and Mokuba was practically beside himself with joy watching all the shitty 60s B-movie practical effects in their full glory.

" _Get him!_ " he cried, cackling as he watched one of the ugly spider puppets attack the main lead. Kaiba wasn't sure which one Mokuba was rooting for.

The movie was pretty bad, but Kaiba was surprised to find he didn't mind. Mokuba was certainly enjoying himself, and there was something about the sight of his little brother curled up on the couch, practically buried underneath all the layers of lace and ribbons, laughing rather evilly at the misfortunes of the spiders' victims that made the whole thing almost... fun, maybe.

Around the halfway point of the film, Mokuba seemed to be getting a little tired. Probably a sugar crash, Kaiba thought. He curled up against Kaiba's side with a yawn, looking a bit bored of the non-spider related drama that took up far too much of the movie. Kaiba stiffened, but didn't try to move away. He let Mokuba doze off like that in his lacy cocoon.

Slowly, awkwardly, Kaiba extricated his arm, and Mokuba just yawned and shifted to rest his head against Kaiba's ribs. Kaiba tried his best not to move or shift in any way that might disturb Mokuba, but it was, admittedly, a little uncomfortable. Mokuba's tiara was jutting into Kaiba's side, and so was his elbow. Such was life, Kaiba thought to himself. And anyway, he couldn't remember the last time the two of them had... _snuggled,_ he supposed was the right word. Ew.

Was this what Wheeler and his sister liked to do? Snuggle up on the couch with a shitty movie? For once, he imagined that Wheeler probably looked less idiotic doing such things than Kaiba did. He was sure he must look like a fish out of water, awkward and stiff, one arm hovering over Mokuba's shoulders, unsure of what to do. Maybe that was why Mokuba liked hanging out with Wheeler. He knew how to be a _real_ brother.

 _Don't be stupid,_ Kaiba thought sourly. That wasn't fair. If Mokuba felt that way, he would have chosen to spend today with Wheeler, wouldn't he? But he didn't. He chose Kaiba, and so Kaiba happily went back to feeling quite superior to Joey Wheeler.

Still, he couldn't deny that spending time with Wheeler and Yugi and all the others had a positive effect on Mokuba. They were good to him, Kaiba begrudgingly admitted. Not just good friends, but good caretakers, too. Kaiba had once heard that it takes a village to raise a child, and it had made him scoff. What village? He and Mokuba had practically raised themselves, and they'd turned out just fine, hadn't they? Well, no, they had turned out the opposite of fine. But they'd survived it. Kaiba had long made peace with the fact that it was always going to be the two of them against the world. He would just become powerful enough that neither of them would ever have to want for a thing. Strange, then, that the more Kaiba got what he wanted, the more unhappy he and Mokuba both had been.

And then _Yugi_ happened. Yugi and his constant talk of friendship and unity. Yugi, who reached out to Mokuba in his darkest moment. Yugi and his friends who all accepted and adored Mokuba. Sure, Yugi had psychologically tortured the Kaiba brothers over board games at first, but the Kaiba brothers then proceeded to try to violently murder him, so Kaiba figured maybe it was best to just forget anything that happened between them before he woke up from his coma.

The point was that Yugi had been Mokuba's first real friend. And slowly, little by little, Mokuba had started to seem more like his old self again since that day. The Mokuba that Kaiba remembered playing in sandboxes and smiling bright enough to light up a room. The Mokuba who wasn't afraid of people. And it had all started with Yugi.

Kaiba reached into his pocket again, and he wondered if he had changed at all since Battle City.

 _I want you to go back to the old_ _you...!_ Mokuba's words in the tower rang in Kaiba's ears, as they had every day since then. _The you from before we even met Gozaburo!_ Mokuba had been so young then, and couldn't possibly have understood what he was truly asking of his brother.

The person that Kaiba was back then, the person who wasn't called _Kaiba,_ was worse than dead to him. He simply couldn't remember him, no matter how hard he tried. Couldn't imagine what it must have been like to _be_ him. Had he really been happier back then? Had he really changed so much since? If things had just been different...

_If things had been different, maybe we could have been family._

What a stupid thing for Yugi to have said. Things just were the way that they were. What was the point in dwelling on what could have been? Why did he have to make Kaiba wonder about it, too? About what it might have been like to be raised in a house full of love. To have never been called Kaiba. He thought of how Yugi's friendship had changed Mokuba, and he wondered, _if things had been different, would I have grown up into someone kind? Someone like..._

Kaiba clutched the envelope a little tighter in his pocket. He couldn't be his old self. He couldn't change the way things turned out. He wasn't even sure whether it was time for him to grow up or try to remember how to be a kid again. But if he just looked to the future, then maybe, just maybe... 

The movie ended and the room went dark. Kaiba finally lowered his arm to give Mokuba a gentle shake. His brother groaned a little as he stirred, and when he sat up, his eyes were bloodshot and still drooping with sleep. The tiara was tangled even more deeply into his hair, and there were creases in his cheeks, ribbed like the pattern of Kaiba's turtleneck.

"Aw man, I missed the movie," Mokuba sighed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"You wouldn't have liked it. Too much kissing."

Mokuba pulled a face. "Ew."

He sat up and stretched, emerging from the pile of fabric and lace like Thumbelina from her flower. But a much more grubby, mischievous looking Thumbelina. When he stood to his feet, Kaiba grimaced at all the wrinkles in his dress. He would have to get that ironed later.

"I'm gonna have some more cake," Mokuba announced, and Kaiba could have protested, but it _was_ his birthday. He supposed another slice of cake wouldn't be the end of the world. Plus, it would mean Mokuba might stay awake a little longer, and Kaiba could put off trying to help excavate his tiara.

He followed Mokuba into the kitchen, hands thrust deep into his pockets, his face a little puckered. When Mokuba held out a plate, Kaiba shook his head. "No, er... Mokuba, I..."

Mokuba raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"

 _Just get it over with,_ Kaiba thought, and scowled as he slapped the envelope onto the island. "That's yours," he mumbled, hoping that the heat stinging his cheeks wasn't visible. 

Mokuba looked a little amused as he reached over the counter for the light blue envelope. His name was written along the back of it, and though it didn't say who it was from, Mokuba would recognize that spidery scrawl anywhere. "What's this?" he grinned.

Kaiba just gave him a noncommittal grunt, staring with great interest at the microwave.

Mokuba opened it excitedly, eyeing Kaiba with bemused disbelief when he saw the front of the card. It read, _Happy Birthday Mokuba_ in white pencil against the blue paper. "Did you _make_ this?"

"Hrmph." Kaiba's gaze moved over to the fridge. 

Slowly, Mokuba opened the card. When he saw what was inside, he breathed in sharply, the smile sliding right off his face. Kaiba tried not to wince. Was it really that bad? He'd never been very good at drawing anything but schematics. 

For a moment, the kitchen was deathly silent. Mokuba stared at the card, wide-eyed, while Kaiba internally cursed Yugi and his entire bloodline for steering him wrong, when suddenly—

Mokuba threw his arms around his brother, pulling him into a tight hug. Kaiba blinked, his own arms hanging awkwardly in the air, startled and at a loss. "Mokuba...?"

"It's my favorite," Mokuba mumbled into Kaiba's shirt. "I love it, Seto."

Kaiba's chest felt tight. He swallowed hard, and slowly let his arms come down to rest on Mokuba's shoulders. A start.

On the counter behind them sat the card. Inside was a drawing of the Blue-eyes White Dragon with two riders — Kaiba and, in front of him, Mokuba. They were together, and no one could ever take that away from them.

* * *

"Yuuuuuuugi," Joey whined, flopping over the checkout counter of _Kame Game_. "When are you gonna close up for the day? I'm dyin' to show you my new deck."

"Gimme like ten minutes," Yugi laughed, stocking the shelves with _Monster World_ guidebooks from a box. "I just have a few more things to unbox and then we can—"

The bell to the door rang, and Yugi hurriedly put down the box. "Hi, how can I—"

Joey let out a cry of dismay, sitting up straight behind the counter. Kaiba scowled as he walked through the door, trying very pointedly to ignore the daggers Joey was glaring at him.

"Yugi," he said, nodding awkwardly.

Yugi blinked. "Kaiba! You... Hi! What can I do for ya?"

Kaiba opened his mouth to speak, but then seemed to change his mind, chewing on his words instead. Then, to Yugi's surprise, he turned to Joey. When he spoke, the words came out like teeth being puled.

"Thank you for taking care of my brother the other day," he said, jaw clenched. "And... for the movies. Mokuba has been enjoying them." He cleared his throat, face puckered like a wrinkly old apple. "With me. I mean. We have both been enjoying them. Together."

Joey looked as though Kaiba had slapped him across the face. "You... uh... you're welcome," he said, bewildered, and probably a little alarmed at how much effort it took Kaiba to get the words out. "I'm... glad."

"Hrmph." Kaiba turned to Yugi, thrusting something into his face. Yugi leaned back, squinting at what Kaiba was holding, and then he _gasped_. Kaiba was practically shoving the new Ultra-rares from the new _Silent_ archetype box up Yugi's nose. The same one he had bought booster packs from when he ran into Kaiba.

"Mokuba wanted you to have them," Kaiba muttered. "To say thanks."

Yugi raised an eyebrow. "Mokuba, huh?"

Kaiba's scowl deepened. "Just take them before I change my mind."

Yugi bit back a smile and did as he was told. As soon as he did, Kaiba quickly stomped back out of the store the way he came without so much as a goodbye. The bell rang and the door slammed shut and Joey stared at Yugi, completely baffled.

"What the hell was _that?_ "

Yugi shrugged, smiling to himself as he tucked the new cards safely into a pocket. "I think he just wanted to drop by and say hi."

Joey let out a whistle between his teeth. "I'll be darned. Mokuba must be rubbin' off on him."

"Heh... maybe." As Yugi closed up shop for the day, he hoped that maybe that would just be the first of many times Kaiba came to visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to think that Adena is modeled after Mokuba because Mokie likes to dress up/cosplay. He can have a cute princess outfit, as a treat. Also I think a Crucifixion of Kaiba diorama would be really funny... now I wanna draw it
> 
> Anyway, wow. I finished the 4kids dub of the dm anime recently and then binge read the entire manga, it was wild. I have a huge soft spot for this series since I've been watching the 4kids dub on and off with my own siblings for like over a year now, so finishing it was already a bit emotional, and then add on that twist about Atem and Priest Seto and.... yeah. I have a lot of feelings. Writing this was really fun, and though I plan on writing plenty more with these dumb kids, this fic was definitely my personal sendoff after finishing my first run of the series. It gave me lots of good memories with my siblings and something to look forward to and laugh about during rough times. Yugi-boy, you will be missed.
> 
> Thanks as always for reading, and to everyone who's been leaving sweet comments. I hope everyone enjoyed this final chapter <3


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